1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to alarm systems, and more particularly to a false alarm reduction method and system adapted for equipping with all common kinds of alarm system for minimizing the possibility of false alarm thereof.
2. Description of Related Arts
As the security industry has grown so has the false alarm problem. Currently many cities estimate 98% of their alarm response calls are false. More than 90% of the triggered alarms are false alarms caused by the detection as PIR sensors. This creates many problems (fines, manpower, time) not just for the local police department but for the alarm companies as well and especially the end user whether it is business or residential.
False alarms are the unsolved troubles to both the alarm companies and the police resources. Most alarm system owners have the unpleasant experience of being awaken in mid-night by the alarm company due to false alarms. Also, the police resources have suffered in waste of great amount of time and police force. Before the policemen arrive at the scene, no one knows whether it is a false alarm or an actual alarm. It creates a great burden to the limited police force in every city. The fines being levied to the end user can be hundreds of dollars and the local police department may not respond after two false alarms in one calendar year.
The triggering of false alarms may frequently be caused by insects such as spiders and cockroach entering the covering area of a PIR sensor, by the activity of animals such as birds, rats, and pets inside the PIR sensor covering area, and even by vehicle headlight and weather thunder. It is because the detection ability of PIR sensor does not contain any verification capability like human beings.
According to statistics, there are approximately 32.3 million to 35.5 million false alarm activations per year. The vast majority of alarm calls, between 94-98%, are false and approximately US$1.3 billion in annual costs are due to false alarms. In fact, reliability of alarms, if measured using false alarm rates, is generally between 2-6% only.
False alarms account for 10-25% of all calls to police. Each false alarm requires approximately 20 minutes of police time of usually two officers. Currently, between 21 and 24 million security alarm systems are in the US and approximately 18 million of which are monitored. One out of every seven U.S. businesses and one of every nine U.S. residences have alarms. Some industry estimates suggest that 1.5 million new alarms are installed annually. Solving the problem of false alarms would relieve 35,000 officers from providing what many sees as an essentially private service.
In fact, millions of expenses have been wasted for the police resources in responding to the false alarms, that greatly degrades the efficiency and performance of the police. Accordingly, some of the police stations in this country consider abandoning such alarm response service. It will only be good news to all burglars and criminals.
Therefore, how to effectively minimize the possibility of false alarm is an urgent topic to both the alarm users and the police resources. The question is what technologies are available to help prevent and reduce false alarms in both residential and commercial applications. What is an easy to use and a cost effective method of preventing false alarms?